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Tracy Reese’s fondest childhood memories are of learning to sew with her mom. She completed her first garment when she was just eight years old. Today, she’s a celebrated sustainable fashion designer with portfolios that include Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Anthropologie.

“My mom sewed for my two sisters and me. I remember us pulling all-nighters while listening to Michael Jackson in the basement,” Reese said. “We also made outfits to go to the Ebony Fashion Fair when it came to town. It was a big deal in our household.” 

Reese recalls the Intermission at the fair when everybody paraded up and down the hallway, showing off their looks. It was a time she will never forget. 

At that moment, Reese fell in love with fashion. By her sophomore year of high school at Cass Tech, she was accepted into Parsons School of Design in New York City for a three-month summer program where she could develop her talents. Two years later, Parsons gave Reese a scholarship. 

But it all started in Detroit. 

“I’m very proud that I was able to get a full-ride scholarship to Parsons School of Design based on my Detroit Public Schools portfolio,” Reese said. “At 16, my three-month summer program really opened my eyes to the business of fashion. Before this program, I really felt that fashion was my hobby,” Reese said. 

After graduating from Parsons in 1984, Reese went on to have a wonderful career in the fashion industry. In the 1980s, she became the head of the women’s portfolio for Perry Ellis and launched her dress line called Frock. In 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama tapped Reese to create a custom dress for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. 

But after years of working in the apparel industry, Reese saw the dark side of fashion. 

“I work in this industry that’s a huge polluter and abuses labor. How can I continue to work in this industry unless I learn how to do it differently?” Reese said. 

Why sustainable fashion? 

On average, 15% of the fabric used for garment manufacturing is wasted in the fast fashion industry, which continues to increase at alarming rates. 

In 2019, Reese opened Hope For Flowers, a fashion boutique with a social mission in Detroit’s Cultural Center. It’s also a sustainable clothing brand made in Detroit—Reese’s response to the fashion industry’s environmental impact. 

Hope for Flowers’ social mission is to enrich Black communities while teaching sustainability and combating the throwaway culture prevalent in today’s society.

She opened the business after being selected for a business development program sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America Lexus Fashion Initiative (CFDA) in 2018 through 2019. The nine-month CFDA intensive program allowed her to dive deep into learning about how to design responsibly and sustainably. 

CFDA provided the cohort with financial investment and support to test their theories. Reese traveled to Lexus headquarters in Tokyo, where she completed weekly assignments and check-ins. The cohort also met with stakeholders and artisans within the sustainable fashion industry and learned about textiles. 

Toward the end of the program, CFDA asked the cohort to create a business plan.

Reese wanted to make products in Detroit. She wrote her plan to launch Hope for Flowers as a way to be more active in the city. Reese designed the patterns and began working with Scarlet Crane, a print design company owned by Shayla Johnson, to burn the screens. This collaboration extended to students at Cass Tech, who printed on linen and organic cotton in Reese’s studio.

Building a foundation

Hope For Flowers offers a variety of products for women – such as vibrant and intricate dresses, tops, skirts, and accessories. The overall aesthetic of Hope for Flowers can be described as feminine, colorful, and elegant. 

“It was important as part of my blueprint to be actively involved in the community and find ways to share this experience with the community in Detroit,” Reese said. 

She traveled to St. Luke’s, a Flint factory and Catholic services organization that teaches women how to sew, to make samples for a new collaboration with Detroit is the New Black founder Roslyn Karamoko.

From 2017 to 2020, Reese served as Board President of the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center. This Detroit-based nonprofit provides the community with tools and resources to understand further how to produce high-quality garments responsibly. That experience helped her integrate into the Detroit manufacturing community. Every step of the way, Reese found herself increasingly woven into a community of creatives while learning to be more intentional about her environmental footprint. 

“That was my blueprint; I wanted to prove that I could actually do it from Detroit, my hometown. And I learned through this process I absolutely could do it,” Reese said.

Reese emphasizes having a conscious relationship with fabric and wants students and consumers to consider where textiles come from.  

“The more the students know, the more they can advocate for their right to have clean air, quality education, clean water to drink, and equal pay,” Reese said.

Learn more about sustainable fashion and textiles in Detroit.